


A season about others, strangers alike

by Pikcel



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Chirstmas shopping, Christmas, F/F, Fluff, Multi, Shopping, Shopping Malls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 16:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17165351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pikcel/pseuds/Pikcel
Summary: A collection of linked, Christmas stories, all taking place within the mall.





	A season about others, strangers alike

"Wouldn't it have been better to come on our own, Imai-san?"

"Sayooooo, I know you want to get Hina something! There's more people than just each other in our lives, right?"

"I suppose you’re right." 

"I saved up to get my sister the best present I can find!" Ako exclaimed with a small jump, the sound of her landing echoing throughout the mall.

"Ako seems to have something in mind! Let's head towards that and see if we find something for our own presents on the way there. How does that sound?"

"It sounds efficient." Yukina spoke on behalf of the rest. 

"Ako! Lead the way~!"

"Okay, Lisa-nee!"

And so they walked the large halls of the mall, following the shorter girl's lead. She stopped by a map to figure out where to go and doing so allowed the others to look at the list of stores, gaining ideas.

"Um... I think... I'd like to go... to the accessory... shop..."

"Oh! It's pretty close! Let's go there then, Rinrin!"

Once again, Ako gladly took the lead until they reached the accessory shop. 

"Okay, Rinko! Take your time to find the right thing, we'll wait!"

"Thank you... Imai-san..." 

"Don't mention it~!"

The keyboardist of Roselia began to walk among the aisles. She was looking for something that had to do with a jellyfish. She did have a few anxiety spikes as she had to walk closer to people. Roselia wasn't the only group to be shopping today, unfortunately... 

"Rinriiiiin! You can do it!" Ako encouraged from the entryway. 

Rinko looked back and saw all the reassuring smiles from her bandmates, it gave her enough courage to keep pushing through and find what she was looking for. She paid for the hair clip with a jellyfish design and joined back with her friends. 

"You've done well." The silver-haired lass spoke with a soft smile.

"You did great, Rinko~!" The most feline like member of Roselia congratulated, Ako joining in. 

"Yeah! You went in there against the armies of darkness and returned... Returned..."

"Triumphant..?" Rinko suggested. 

"Triumphant!"

Sayo looked at the dark haired girl with a proud smile and it's all the keyboardist needed to know that she was proud.

"Let's get back to what we have to do. Sayo, you said your present would be found in a nearby store?" The leader insisted, they could be practicing instead of this. She was aware that spending time together doing activities other than playing their instruments could help their chemistry but she still struggled to see the progress, sometimes. 

"Correct, I've decided to get a gift for Hina. Imai-san suggested I get her an aromatic oil crafting set."

"I see..." It was Rinko's turn to give a proud smile. She knew that Hikawa-san's relationship with her sister was a delicate one but she was doing her best to make it work and it was remarkable.

"Yes, I won't be long." And with that, Sayo entered the store next to the accessory shop. 

Once she came across the different sets, she had to make a decision. She would most likely smell those aromas a lot so should take one that she wouldn't mind as much?

The shy girl was observing her from the outside, she was wondering what could create this indecisiveness.

The guitarist decided to take a set that had a seemingly rather intense smell. It was gift for Hina, after all, not herself. She would just endure it.

Once she got out of the store after having paid, she noticed that one of the members was absent. 

"Where is Imai-san?" She inquired. 

"She went into the baking store to get something for Arisa-chan!" The youngest girl answered. 

"I'm here, I'm here! I got her baking recipe book! Now we just need to Ako's and Yukina's... Gift..?" Lisa's sentence slowed down as she noticed the band leader looking in the distance.  
"I think Yukina found the gift she wants to get!"

"E-Eh..?" The leader spoke, realizing that the conversation was about her. 

"You were staring at that store! Let's head there!"

Yukina didn't have a chance to rebbutle as everyone else followed Lisa's lead towards the plushie creating store... How embarrassing...

Straggling behind, the golden-eyed girl followed them, her eyes darting from the cat plushie in the window and her bandmates in front of her. 

Once they arrived, she had cats on the mind. 

"So who're you getting something for, Yukina~?" The bassist asked.

The question snapped her out of it. Somewhat. "Huh..? Oh... Toyama-san." 

"Oh, Kasumi! That's really thoughtful, she'd love a plushie!"

"Of course, I cannot do things halfway." She couldn't admit that she thought of Toyama-san because of her cat ear hairstyle...

"Okay, let's get to work!"

A little while later, Yukina was at the register with a brown cat plushie that had some stars over it. She at least knew that about the Poppin'Party leader.

Lisa did notice that the shorter girl was getting infatuated with the plushie, however, so she spoke up. "Actually, we'll take another one just like that." 

"Lisa?"

"Don't question it, Yukina~."

"...Very well." She trusted the taller lass. 

While the payment was being done, Rinko saw someone. The person for who she had bought a gift. "Ma... Matsubara-san... Hello..."

"Hello, Rinko-chan... What are you doing here?" Kanon replied with a soft smile.

"We're shopping for presents together..."

"Oh, did you get the one you want to give, yet?"

There it was, the question she was afraid of. She couldn't spoil the surprise that she had gotten her something, right? But if she didn't say anything she might figure it out. She didn't want to just lie to her. She wasn't a good liar to begin with so she'd definitely connect the dots and--

"I have to go, let's talk again some other time, Rinko-chan." Offering the keyboardist a smile, she left the store.

"Ah..! Ahh... Goodbye, Matsubara-san..."

Sayo stepped in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you well, Shirokane-san?"

Seeing the other care about her like this made her heart flutter and managed to soothe her anxieties. "Mm... I am." She replied with a soft smile. 

"I am glad to hear it. We are about ready to leave the store."

As they walked out, Sayo kept a hand on Rinko's shoulder, to reassure her that she was there.

"Okay! Only Ako's present is left!" Lisa exclaimed, proud of her bandmates.

"Fufufu~... Your puny presents are nothing faced against mine!" The shortest girl then proclaimed, leading her friends to a more traditional Japanese store. 

No one had the time to say anything and Ako was already at the register with a small taiko drum set and just like that, it was purchased!

"I have acquired the ultimate weapon!" She shouted in the store, holding the packing box over her head.

"Be careful, Ako! You wouldn't want to drop it, right?"

"Oh, right! Thanks, Lisa-nee!"

As they were heading out, they noticed a stage set up in the mall. Yukina insisted that they watch as to perhaps learn something new. 

...

"Hina-san..! I think your excitement is stressing out Aya-san..." The Pastel Palettes drummer said. 

"Huuuuh? But this is great! We get to play our new Christmas song in public! And we've barely been able to practice!" Sayo's younger twin, Hina, replied. 

"That is exactly why this situation is very stressful to her, Hina-chan." Chisato pointed out, she knew that Hina needed to be explained certain things, especially about feelings

"But we have to be strong and face this challenge head on! That is the way of the bushido!" Eve then added, trying her best to encourage everyone.

"Thanks, you guys... We'll be okay, right?" The leader spoke, a little choked up. 

"We will! I triple checked the equipment myself!"

"Thank you, Maya-chan. I'm really glad to have you here."

"Stage in 30 seconds!" A technician warned them, prompting them to focus on the song ahead.

And then it was time. They walked out on the stage, Aya having her nerves mostly under control. 

"Hello everyone! Thank you for coming! We'll be premiering our new song today, we all worked very hard on it so we hope you enjoy!"

And with that, the band performed their Christmas song. There was a few small mistakes here and there but they played it off so well that no one seemed to notice.

"Thank you once again for coming, everyone! This was recorded for the Christmas special on channel 5! Please watch us again there!"

The girls bowed down, thanked the fans some more before leaving the stage. 

“See, Aya-chan? It went great!” The blue-haired girl reassured.

“We had a few false notes here and there… I don’t think they noticed though, did they?”

“Even if they did, what matters is that they enjoyed the show, isn’t it, Aya-san?” The drummer added.

“Maya-chan is right, they won’t remember our mistakes, they’ll remember the good time they had, watching us play.” The bassist agreed. 

“It might not go as well once it airs, though…” The pink-eyed girl retorted. 

“Worry about that when it’s there! I’ll be there with you!” 

“Hina-chan… Thank you.” Aya hugged the guitarist. She really had gotten better at reassuring the people she cared about.

...

"Ahhhh~! This song gave me that sparkling, heart-pounding feeling~!" Poppin'Party's leader said rather loudly. 

"It's done now, can we go? The reason we're here is stupid enough already..." Arisa complained. 

"Hm? You wouldn't want to get our future cat a Christmas present, Arisa?" Saaya teased, a knowing smile on her face. 

"That's..! That's not what I'm saying! We won't have thirty cats!"

"It's a good thing that I only have twenty rabbits, then..." Tae spoke, thinking the keyboardist was saying that 30 presents would be too much. 

"Twenty, thirty, it's still too much! Can't we just get them carrots? Don't they love that?"

"Twenty is a big number but I'm sure we'll manage, Arisa-chan." Rimi said, hoping to defuse the situation. 

"Of course we'll manage, it just feels like a waste of time when we could just order things online."

"It'll be a bigger waste of time if we just stand still, come on." The drummer spoke, grabbing the keyboardist's hand and gently pulled her along.

"Saaya..! I'm not-" Arisa begun, her face a whole new shade of red.

"A baby? I know, I'm not doing this to guide you, I'm doing this because I want to." 

Arisa being unable to formulate a counter argument simply fell silent and followed along as did the rest of the band. 

"Oh! I have an idea! I have an idea!" Kasumi exclaimed as they walked. "We could get them a few toys!"

Arisa looked at her with a baffled expression. Why would O-Tae have asked them for help if toys were enough?

"Kasumi! That's a great idea!" The tallest girl then replied.

The blonde shut down for a moment. This didn't really happen, right? There was no way that O-Tae didn't think about toys... A tug on her hand woke her up from her stupor. 

"Come on, Arisa, the faster we're done here, the earlier we'll get to your place."

"M-Mm." Saaya knew how to sweet talk her into doing things. She did enjoy the warmth of her own home, after all...

And so the crew followed Saaya's lead, as Arisa's motivation to do this was was lower compared to the baker's. 

Eventually, they arrived at the pet store and split up. 

Rimi went with O-Tae to try and keep the girl focused on what she needed to do, Kasumi went to look at the lizards as she enjoyed their lazy yet quirky nature, and Arisa and Saaya ended up looking at cats. 

"You really do love cats, huh?"

"We-Well they're lazy. They eat and sleep most of the time. It's easy to take care of."

Saaya couldn't let such an opportunity slip by. "So kinda like you?"

"Wha-What is that supposed to mean!?" The keyboardist huffed, putting her balled hands on her hips. 

"Oh, nothing in particular~."

"Jeez, you're lucky I-"

"O-O-Tae-chan..! Those are aquarium decorations..!" Rimi said, following the guitarist around the store. 

"Seems like poor Rimi needs our help, kitty."

It was with a flushed face that Arisa walked towards the chaos of her own will, a giggling Saaya following behind. 

"O-Tae! We're not buying a fish today, right?" The blue-eyed girl asked. 

"Hm? I know, why?" The cryptid replied.

"Then we should put back those decorations where they came from, no? Your rabbits won't need those, we can come get them another day if you really want them."

"Okay! That makes sense." Tae then went to place everything that wasn't a rabbit toy back where it belonged. 

Arisa and Rimi exchanged looks. They both were rather impressed with how the other had managed to deal with the rabbit owner so easily. 

"Ohhh! They're feeding the snakes!!" Kasumi shouted in the distance. 

"I'M GOING TO WAIT OUTSIDE!" Arisa also shouted before exiting the store.

"But Ariiisaaaaaaaaaaa~!"

"I don't want to hear it!"

"We should hurry up..." The bassist softly said.

"Mm, I think O-Tae's got everything she needs so let's head to the register." Saaya said as she noticed the other just holding everything without reaching for anything else. 

Once everything was paid for, they headed towards the exit of the mall. Kasumi was rambling about how the snake was fed and Arisa put Saaya in between them in hopes that it would distract her enough to not listen.

It didn't work. Arisa ended up stampeding ahead, shouting what she was going to do at home to erase the images in her brain. Kasumi was left confused as to what went wrong and shouted back, asking what was happening. 

...

"Ah, those little kittens sure seem to be having fun~." Kaoru said, inside of a café, while the commotion was passing by. 

"Arisa-chan sounded more angry than having fun..." Kanon then added.

"And Kasumi-chan sounded rather puzzled towards that anger." Chisato concluded, taking a sip of her hot cocoa. 

"Ah but isn't fun something that evokes various emotions? How fleeting..."

"That doesn't make sense, Kaoru-san..." The blue haired girl replied. 

"I see that you still haven't gotten used to Kao-chan's absurdity, Kanon?"

"Chi-chan... Not in public, please..."

Chisato let out a chuckle. "Very well, Kaoru. The question remains, however."

"I'm used to it, yes... It just became a habit..." The Hello, Happy World drummer answered after taking a sip of her own cup of hot cocoa. 

"How are my little kittens enjoying this sweet nectar?" The guitarist asked, raising her cup. 

"It is rather delicious, I have to admit. You were right to recommend this place." 

"Mm, Chisato-chan is right."

"It would then seem that I have influenced destiny, causing us all to meet here, at this precise time!"

"Don't flatter yourself too much, it's simply cold outside and a warm drink is the courage we needed to face it." Chisato retorted. 

"Ah, such beautiful poetry! A warm drink being a shield against the cold! Words worthy of Shakespeare!"

Kanon and Chisato exchanged an amused look. Kaoru had grown into quite the character.

"Well, I've finished my drink." The bassist said, only for the other two to place their empty cups on the table. 

"Allow me to escort the both of you home, as the Sun has set on this cold afternoon."

"Ah, sure. Thank you, Kaoru-san." Kanon answered. 

Chisato gave it some thought. Perhaps it was the season, or even the hot cocoa, but she felt happy to oblige the taller girl. "I suppose I could."

The three of them put their coats on and exited the café, and then the mall. After all, perhaps it wasn't the hot cocoa that was their shield against the cold, but each other's presence.


End file.
